I think it depends on the character. Some characters have to use bad word, part of their nature and then there are others that should aboulutly not use bad words. Some are inbetween, generaly not use them, but do occasionaly. But you want to avoid using words like retard, because that is a real word used for people who are mentaly disabled, some people might take it the wrong way. Also, don't fill the story with them, that will scare people away from the story. Dont have a character where every other word is not a good one.

Personally, I refrain from doing so, but I can understand why one would include them in their writing. I think that including them is acceptable, as long as they aren't too intense and they are used correctly and not too often.
This is just my opinion! (:
Jetta

I avoid them. While there is an argument to be made for realism, fiction is not anywhere the same as real life. We leave out the boring, the annoying, the gross and ugly stuff (when was the last time you read a book where a main character went to the bathroom?) so I don't see why we can't leave out the ugly words as well. I understand the desire to make writing super realistic, but I'd rather create a story that everyone is comfortable reading than a story that closely mimicks real life.

Feel like I'm just repeating what everyone else said, but I avoid them (partially because I just don't like it and other times because half the places I send my writing though, like our school's email system, won't send things with swear words). But there are some characters who should use it, and come on, if your character is in a horrible situation, I think he/she's allowed to drop an f-bomb. But if its not that type of character, or its just their thoughts, i don't think there's a reason to swear

I agree... I also think that using these types of words really limit your vocabulary. I think that writers especially should be able to come up with clever words that replace swear words. In addition, you wouldn't use "small" to describe everything; that would overuse the word. So, you wouldn't use the same swear word to describe everything as well because it would still be overused.

I use them a lot. It makes everything realistic. I know not many people use swears as much as I do, but it's just how I talk. I use swears as casual filler words, and often my characters do as well. Swears are just words, I don't see how they could be offensive.

Because the people who use a langauge decide as a whole what a language means. You can't call a four-legged barking animal a 'tree' and then claim that's perfectly comprehensible because they're 'just words'. The English language users have decided a 'tree' is a leafy plant and a 'dog' is an animal. Similarly, society has decided that some words are offensive. You can't use them as fillers and expect nobody to be offended because they're 'just words'.

Cussing is a habit. It's not natural, it's developed or picked up from somewhere. And I agree with Imagine, society has for some reason invented words that are used in a vulgar way. The only context for swear words is being offensive. Some people say them thoughtlessly, true, but that's more being de-sensitized than anything else :P

And langauge evolves. We stopped using 'Thees" and "Thous" probably because people just stopped using them and they became pointless. Likewise, with swear words, some swear words are so overused that to censor them would be pointless, and they're not considered swear words anymore, whereas other words slowly become offensive in the eyes of many, and soon enough everyone acknowledges them as swear words. It's not a hard and fast rule, it's something you pick up and learn as you go (I was using pi.ssed ((I don't know if that would get censored, best not to take chances with an enourmous post like this)) for a few years before I figured out it was a swear word. Oops)

I think a cuss word of two can help the story. Because it places a more impact when you say it, but I usually don't use them in my writings, because it will exclude your readers. If a reader doesn't like to read stuff with cussing, then they will stop reading your story if you have lots of cussing in it.